Should Churches Be as Friendly as a Bar?

Mark Galli has a good article by this title in Christianity Today. He interacts with a recent survey and those fretting over its results which suggest people do not view churches as being as friendly as bars. He raises good questions about the assumptions of those who fret this.

He comments:

Could it be that the culture no longer takes the church seriously because we don't take ourselves seriously? Could it be that the more we strive to be as friendly as a bar, the more we'll be viewed as seriously as people view a bar?

Valuable reading for those of us who lead God’s church to help us make sure we have in view the goals of the Lord of the church rather than the culture around us.

The Holiest Day of the Year

The flap over the Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad has been interesting and particularly revealing. About a week ago I heard a guy on ESPN complaining about it (his name has escaped me) and I remember thinking, “He is making a religious argument.” He was essentially arguing that the Super Bowl was sacred space that was sullied by such discussions.

Then, today, I read the latest Shepherd Press newsletter which quoted sports writer Greg Doyle as saying this:

"And I'm not complaining about the ad because it's anti-abortion and I'm not. I'm complaining about the ad because it's pro-politics. And I'm not. Not on Super Sunday. If you're a sports fan, and I am, that's the holiest day of the year. That's a day for five hours of football pregame shows and four hours of football game and three hours of postgame football analysis. That's a day for football addicts to gorge themselves to the gills on football.

It's not a day to discuss abortion. For it, against it, I don't care what you are. On Super Sunday, I don't care what I am. Feb. 7 is simply not the day to have that discussion."

Wow! Someone will say he is intentionally exaggerating.  However, notice that this event is supposed to nullify for the moment any other weighty matters.  In other words it is sacred.  Revealing.
We are always a religious people.  The only question is, "Who are the gods?"

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

Christian Smith has written a brief article condensing his research on the religious beliefs of American teenagers. It is well worth reading. He argues that the functional religious of American youth (which as he says they learned from the adults around them) is “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” This is the functional religion even though many identify themselves as Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, or Muslim. His assessment squares well with what I see going on around me.

The three terms in his description are important. This functional religion is “moralistic” because it centers not on redemption or being made right with God but on being a good person- as defined by ourselves. It is “therapeutic” because it centers on feeling good about yourself. It is “deism” because the God in view is removed, not calling us to account. As Smith points out this “religion” is not unique to younger people. They are simply reflecting what has been encouraged in our culture for some time.

Here are a few quotes:

“ ‘God is a spirit that grants you anything you want, but not anything bad’ . .
. . ‘God’s all around you, all the time. He believes in forgiving people and whatnot, and he’s there to guide us, for somebody to talk to and help us through our problems. Of course, he doesn’t talk back.’ This last statement is perhaps doubly telling. . . .[God] also does not offer any challenging comebacks to or arguments about our requests.” 50 (page 4 of the online .pdf)

“Thus, one sixteen-year-old white mainline Protestant boy from Texas complained with some sarcasm in his interview that, ‘Well, God is almighty, I guess [yawns]. But I think he’s on vacation right now because of all the crap that’s happening in the world, cause it wasn’t like this back when he was famous.’” 50 (page 4 of the online .pdf)

“Our religiously conventional adolescents seem to be merely absorbing and reflecting religiously what the adult world is routinely modeling for and inculcating in its youth.” 51(page 5 of the online .pdf)

“In short, our teen interview transcripts reveal clearly that the language that dominates U.S. adolescent interests and thinking about life—including religious and spiritual life—is primarily about personally feeling good and being happy.”
53 (page 7 of the online .pdf)

“. . . we have come with some confidence to believe that a significant part of ‘Christianity’ in the United States is actually only tenuously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition, but has rather substantially morphed into Christianity’s misbegotten step-cousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” 56 (page 10 of the online .pdf)

Original Source: “Summary Interpretation: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism,” from Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton, copyright © 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc.

Ken Myers on Titus and Cultural Engagement

In the recent issue of Touchstone Magazine Ken Myers' article “Waiting for Epimenides” draws from the letter to Titus lessons for cultural engagement. This is a good article both in its handling of Titus and in its observations of the current church scene. Here are some quotes:

“A passion for Christian maturity is easily obscured when church leaders become preoccupied with the church’s cultural relevance.” (9)

“Far from looking more like their neighbors in the interest of winsomeness, they are enjoined to live lives that put their neighbors to shame.” (11; commenting on Titus 2:1-10)

“St. Paul’s letter to Titus is a bracing rebuke to much of the vague talk about cultural engagement one hears in so many Christian settings. … It recognizes that cultural moods and styles can be enemies of faithfulness.” (11)

Noting that there are often secular voices pointing out the deadening effects of cultural trends, Myers goes on to say:

"But, all too often, these prophetic voices are ignored, as American churches have emulated the most popular trends of our time to attract people who want a spiritual supplement to the cultural status quo instead of a radical critique of the conventional wisdom. Christian leaders have assumed that ‘engaging the culture’ means finding out what the majority wants and figuring out how to exploit those desires in the name of Jesus." (11)

If you are not a subscriber to Touchstone, I would encourage you to try out the magazine.